Early election in J&K welcome but statehood must wait

Generally speaking, every sane voice will endorse Mehbooba Mufti’s lament that you can’t jail an idea (HT, November 28). But the idea ought not to be a violation of national integration or the constitutional guarantee of equal rights and equal opportunities for all citizens. Sadly, her selective ideas, as those of the Abdullahs and others of their ilk, aim only at monopolising power. Those who decry continued central rule in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir, are in fact responsible for it. People of J&K have welcomed the new trajectory of peace and development. Since the revision of constituencies and electoral rolls is now complete, democracy warrants an early assembly election, though statehood must wait till peace is sustained under an elected dispensation.

Lalit Bharadwaj

Panchkula